Equipment focus: Volvo EC950E excavator

A Volvo EC950E excavator working on the Toka Tindung gold mine in Manado, Indonesia

A Volvo EC950E excavator working on the Toka Tindung gold mine in Manado, Indonesia

Volvo’s new mining champion, the 90-tonne EC950E excavator, has helped Indonesian customer PT Samudera Mulia Abadi (SMA) boost productivity by up to 30 per cent – and it’s now available in Australia.

Mining contractor SMA won a tender in 2015 to handle operations at the Toka Tindung gold mine in Manado, North Sulawesi, and last year chose Volvo as its exclusive machine supplier.

After early success, this year the company brought the first two units of the EC950E excavator to Indonesia, and Volvo’s new heavyweight soon delivered what it calls "extraordinary productivity improvements".

"Since we introduced the EC950E, our fleet productivity has gone up by 25 to 30 per cent," Manado mine planning and production manager Ozgur Zor says. "We have been quite excited by the EC950E’s performance onsite."

Today, SMA has over 60 Volvo machines working on the Toka Tindung site, and the EC950E units are no longer the only big machines. There are also six 75-tonne-rated EC750D excavators plus more than 50 large articulated haulers – a mix of A40F and A45G units.

"When it comes to articulated haulers, Volvo is the best in the world," SMA commissioner Wilson Sastroamijoyo says. "No other brand can beat Volvo."

Going for gold

Due to hard surfaces and undulating terrain, gold mining in Toka Tindung places extreme demands on machinery. With this in mind, SMA opted for a Gold Customer Support Agreement (CSA) for its Volvo machines.

With the Gold CSA, technicians not only provide regular, scheduled maintenance and inspections, but are also on standby to provide immediate onsite support if needed.

"Volvo’s aftermarket is very responsive," Sastroamijoyo says. "The significant number of spare parts onsite really helps us to reduce downtime.

"After we changed the entire fleet exclusively to Volvo, efficiency has increased, and fuel consumption and costs have gone down significantly," he adds. "That has been a big achievement."

Available in Oz

Volvo CE APAC sales support and dealer development VP AM Muralidharan says that, with support from Volvo distribution partner CJD, Australian buyers of the EC950 excavator will get the same productivity potential and the same aftermarket support as Indonesia’s SMA.

"We see a great potential for the EC950 in Australia," he says. "This machine has already proven to be extremely competitive in its class and we are very excited to see what it can achieve in Australia – especially in combination with our new giant A60 articulated hauler."